The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has expressed its “frustration” at delays in the issuing of passports, meaning some consumers have had to cancel travel plans, with the association “seeking clarification” from the government department over the issue.
The ITAA said the current backlog – reported to be around eight weeks – must be “cleared immediately” to allow for a quicker recovery for Ireland’s leisure tourism sector, as well as business travellers and those wishing to visit friends and family overseas.
ITAA chief executive Pat Dawson said members were “frustrated and disappointed” at ongoing delays – with around 95,000 passports still due to be processed according to the Irish Independent.
“It is unacceptable and a huge blow to those wishing to travel abroad. It is also a blow to Ireland’s travel industry, which has basically been prevented from trading for the past 18 months,” said Dawson in a statement on Monday (16 August).
“These businesses are attempting to claw their way back and are bringing in roughly 15-20% of pre-pandemic levels. The passport offices in both Dublin and Cork should be open as an essential service, to allow consumers to apply for passports and renew existing passports.”
Dawson said he believed it would “take months” to clear the current backlog and warned customers wanting to book travel now would be forced to wait for their passport applications to be approved.
“The system will be overwhelmed by the backlog in passport renewals and applications, and this will drastically slow the economic recovery of the travel sector both at home and abroad,” he added.
“We are seeking clarification from the Department of Foreign Affairs on this issue, because we want to do what is best for our customers during this extremely stressful time. There is a pent-up demand for travel; people have been through enough during the past 18 months, and these passport delays will only be another obstacle in the way of things returning to normal.”
